Chuck vs the Old Friend
by wynnnxi
Summary: Set after Chuck Versus the Break Up. I guess that's about it.
1. Chapter 1

**CHUCK AU where Bryce successfully downloads Intersect 2.0 and Chuck is now Intersect-less. Sarah leaves with Bryce**

Hey! Before things get rolling, I'd like to thank you for clicking and hopefully reading my story. I'm fairly new to this - as in fanfiction and writing in general (this is my first story, and maybe my last), so please feel free to leave any reviews on how I could improve my stories and writings. And lastly, I'd like to thank my very dear friend, "Elzzz". I didn't have any one to proofread or edit this soooo. yeah, enjoy :) oh yeah, last thing, i promise. I don't own much, and certainly not Chuck

 **October 13, 2008, 11:30 PM. Location: Castle**

Chuck still couldn't get the taste of disgust out of his mouth from seeing his old "friend", Bryce Larkin, all up close and personal with _his_ Sarah. Just _thinking_ about that traitorous asshole made him cringe, much less having to actually _see_ the blue-eyed, brown hair, super spy standing in front of him.

 **Three hours earlier**

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! As you all know, today is _yours_ truly's birthday..." Chuck had completely zoned out from Von Hayes' self-appraisal after sighting Bryce and Sarah - or in this case Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, totally enamored with one another.

"How could she look at him like that?" Chuck thought, "After all he's done to me". He just stared, wishing it was him feeding Sarah that strawberry and Bryce having to wait around for the snotty host and his guests.

"Hey! Bartowski! Von Hayes is at table 8, grab a bottle of wine and see if you can flash on anything." Casey commanded, as he watched from the car. The team continued on with the mission and it went off without a hitch. Other than getting fired on the spot and shot at, Chuck and the rest of the team successfully completed the mission, acquired the chip, and headed back to Castle for a debriefing.

 **11:31 PM**

"Good work agents, and Mr. Bartowski. And before I leave, I have some news you would be happy to hear, Mr. Bartowski." Sarah furrowed her brows. General Beckman continued, "the team the NSA and CIA had put together on the Intersect project has successfully completed the Intersect 2.0 and in doing so, has also come up with a method to taking the Intersect out of your head _without_ any permanent damage or side effects."

Chuck smiled from ear to ear with that ever-glowing Bartowski grin of his. "That's great! But how exactly are they going to accomplish that?"

"Quite simply, actually. Tomorrow, report back to Castle at 2200 hours and I will debrief you all more about the situation. That is all." With that General Beckman disappeared and went black along with the screen.

Sarah slowly turned and faced Chuck, "This is great Chuck." She said with a stoic expression. Sarah knew that this moment would inevitably come. The moment where she would have to say goodbye to Chuck and never see his face or hear his voice again. "You'll finally be free from the government's grasp and live the normal life you've always wanted."

Chuck gave out a small smile, "you're right", he chuckled, then realized, "but wait..." Sarah knew, "w-w-wait no, there must be a way I can still see you guys?" Sarah, Casey and Bryce just stood there. "Right guys? There _has_ to be a way."

Casey finally broke the silence " _Humph_ , don't worry Moron" He handed Chuck a card with his personal number on it. "Dial this number if you ever catch yourself getting your toes cut off, and ONLY if you find yourself in that situation." He winked at Chuck then continued on out to the Orange Orange.

"Look on the bright side, Chuck, you won't have to lie to your sister anymore, or worry about whether who's gonna shoot you today. You'll finally get a shot at that normal life you've always wanted."

"She's right Bud, and I apologize, it was because of me you got yourself into this mess in the first place." Bryce added. Chuck rolled his eyes and focused them back onto Sarah's. Brown meeting blue, the two both thought about a life without one another, only Sarah had already expected this and was prepared. But nothing could prepare the Spy enough for a life without Chuck. Over the past months, she's developed feelings for her asset. And for that reason, she knew she had to leave, as the life of a spy would never permit to falling in love with someone, much less her asset.

"Chuck, it's getting late. You should go home, get some rest, and think about all the positives getting the Intersect removed will do to your life." Sarah gave a forced smile, knowing Chuck will do just the opposite.

 **October 14, 2008, 9:30 AM. Location: Casa Bartowski/Woodcomb**

* _beep beep beep beep be-e_. Chuck slammed his hand over his alarm, * _BANG_ , all while face down in his pillow. Today was his day off, but his mind was hectic. He could barely get any sleep. The thought of Sarah leaving forever worked his mind all night. And not just Sarah, but Casey as well. Although the two didn't get along at first, Casey still saved Chuck's life more times than he could remember.

Ellie knocked the door open, "CHUCK?!" "Is everything alright? I heard a loud noise" Ellie obviously looked worried.

"yeah, sorry to worry you, El, everything's fine" in a muffled voice. Finally lifting his head, "sorry, just couldn't get any sleep last night" he said along with a sigh.

"aww, Chuck, are you sure? You know I'm always here for you, right?" Chuck knew. His sister was always his support system. And he was grateful, but this information wasn't the kind one would go sharing around.

He nodded his head and gave Ellie a warm smile, "yeah, positive."

"Alright, well, my shift starts in 30 minutes so I'll see you later tonight?" She waited for his approval... "love you, Chuck"

"Love you too, Sis", he said, nodding once again.

 **10:00 PM. Location: Castle**

As instructed, Chuck along with Casey, Bryce and Sarah reported to Castle at exactly 2200 hours. The moniter suddenly turned on. "Agents, Mr. Bartowski. As I said yesterday, I will now inform you all on the Intersect situation. There should be two boxes laid out in front of you. They are labeled 'One' and 'Two', Agent Larkin, you will open the box labeled 'Two' and the other is for Mr. Bartowski."

"genius" Chuck whispered under his breath. Casey chuckled... or growled. "Agent Larkin, your box contains glasses which will give you access and make you into the Intersect 2.0. You will simply put them on and process the images. As for you, Mr. Bartowski, you will also wear the glasses, but _un_ -process the images. The images will disappear and so will the Intersect from your head. Any questions?" No one said a thing.

Chuck gave one last look at Sarah, the two locked eyes, but Sarah soon shifted her gaze. "Before I put these on, I just want to thank you all of you for what you've done for me. Thank you, General Beckman, for not killing me off or storing me in some kind of ominous bunker.

" _Humph_ " Casey smirked.

Thank you, Casey, for protecting me even after I left the car and for always looking out for me. I even wanna thank you, Bryce, for giving me this opportunity in the first place, without you, I wouldn't have met these amazing heroes who saves American lives daily, and going unnoticed for their actions. And lastly, I want to Thank you, Sarah Walker, for everything. For bringing joy to my life again after Jill made me feel completely and utterly pathetic, for showing me that my life _could_ get better, and for making me realize that I'm made for so much more than just the basic normal life I've been living for the past 5 years."

Sarah's eyes were beginning to moisten, but she quickly pulled herself together. She couldn't show any signs of weakness, especially after the night before, where all she could do was cry and think about Chuck.

 **10:19 PM Location: Castle**

"Any pain, Chuck?"

"Nope, I feel fine. Thanks, Sarah" Chuck grinned at her one last time - the grin that always melted Sarah's heart. She handed Chuck a card, similar to the one Casey had given him the previous night. Chuck reached out to grab it and was pulled in by Sarah for one last hug. One last time to be embraced and held by Chuck. Sarah savored this moment as she knew she'd never get this chance again.

 **11:20 PM. Location: Some street in Burbank**

An hour had passed since Chuck said his goodbyes. He still couldn't shake the feeling that Sarah left with Bryce to continue her badass spy life with some badass sort of good looking spy. He had been walking around trying to clear his head when he heard his phone go off. It was Ellie.

"Hey, Chuck, where are you? It's getting pretty late now."

"Sorry, El. I must've lost track of time, I went out for a walk. Had to get some stuff off my mind. Don't worry I'll be home in about 20 minutes, tops."

"Alright. Be careful, I'll see you then. Love you, Chuck"

"Love you too, El" he hung up, and heard a click. A familiar sound, but not from him. Chuck looked up.

"Give me your wallet!" A person with a gun demanded. "Give it to me now and no one has to get hurt!" Chuck reached to his back pocket, phone still in hand. "Hey!" The robber shouted.

"h-h-hey, i-i-I'm just reaching for my wallet, please, no need to shoot" in the process of reaching for his wallet, Chuck pressed his finger against his iPhone, praying it'd call someone. He clicked on Sarah's name.

 **11:27 PM. Location: LAX**

Sarah was already situated and her flight was about to take off, with Bryce sitting next to her. Her phone had gone off and saw that it was Chuck's name and face on her screen. "If at this time, all passengers could please turn off any electronic devices or turn on airplane mode". Thinking it was just another call to convince her to stay, she ignored the call and was put it to airplane mode.

 **11:27 PM. Location: Some street in Burbank**

Sarah's phone went to voicemail, "at the tone please record your message, when you have finis-"

"I'm not gonna ask again! Give me your wallet!"

" _Beeeep_ "

"Okay! Okay! Please don't sho-"

"Too late."

 _*BANG BANG_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hey! I'd like to once again thank you all, so so much for reading my story. You all make me so very happy. When I read my first review, I literally started wheezing and squirming, so thank you for that, Bahall1964. Thank you all for giving me such positive feed back even though I wouldn't even consider myself a writer. I apologize if this chapter is lacking in what I'd call, "umph". And lastly, I'd like to thank my dear, dear, friend, "Elzzz" for giving me the inspiration to even start jotting down these ideas.

I do not own Chuck.

 **Chapter** **2**

 **November 27, 2008, 7:30 AM. Location: Washington D.C.**

A little over a month has passed, Sarah noted. Bryce and Sarah had once again recuperated their on again, off again feelings for one another, but Sarah still had these lingering feelings. These thoughts about one certain nerd occupied her mind every now and then. Sarah didn't want to admit it, but she knew a part of her still loved Chuck. _No, I can't do this to Bryce_. Just then she felt a hand slowly creeping up her back.

"Good morning, Mrs. Anderson."

 _Ugh, this is starting to get creep_ y. "Bryce, we're not even on an op right now." She rolled her eyes and got up from Bryce's embrace.

"You're right, sorry, Sarah." he gave her a gentle, yet charming smile. She couldn't resist and quickly gave him a kiss before heading for the showers. Before stripping of her clothes, she checked her phone. She had kept the voicemail Chuck sent to her the day she left, only she didn't have the courage to open it and listen. _You can do this Sarah Walker, you can do this. You made the right choice. You've moved on_. She finally opened the voicemail, it was barely audible. "Okay! Okay! Please don't sho- … Too late … *BANG BANG"

"CHUCK!" she screamed as if her voice could reach him. Her mind ran at thousand miles, her heart beating so intensely, she could feel her ribcage ache.

"SARAH! What's wrong?! What happened? I heard you screaming Chuck's name." Sarah couldn't breathe. She dropped then and there, as if all control she had over her body was ripped away from her. Before Bryce couldn't process what was going on, streams of tears ran out of Sarah's eyes. Tears even she didn't know she was capable of producing. "Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!" she heard someone shouting her name, but it was all white noise to her. Finally, "Sarah! What happened?!"

She snapped back, "Chuck.. Chuck he.." she gestured her phone. Bryce picked it up and replayed the voicemail, noting the timestamp was the day his old friend had the Intersect removed. Bryce listened...

"Hey, Sarah. We don't know exactly what happened. Maybe nothing serious happened to Chuck. Even if something did, don't you think we would have at least heard something about it?" Sarah couldn't muster up the strength to speak, much less look at her partner. Bryce took her hands and embraced her, attempting to comfort her - his actions were futile. After many failed attempts, Bryce finally got a reply. "I wanna know exactly what happened." Bryce could hear the devastation in her voice. It was a different kind of tone. A foreign tone, one he's never heard come from that mouth.

After what seemed to be hours of silence, Sarah once again, picked up the source of her desolation and dialed Casey's number. _Surely he knew what happened, he has to know. I need him to know_. "Casey!"

"What is it, Walker?" he said with a rather irate tone.

"Ha.. Have you been keeping tabs on Chuck lately?" she was anxious to hear his reply.

"It's been over a month and now you decide to call? _Humph_ "

"Answer the question, Casey!" Casey growled in return to the hostility

"If you want answers, try someone else." * _beeeeeeeep_

Having been hung up on only left Sarah mortified. She tried for General Beckman, praying she had some intel about what happened to Chuck. She wanted answers. She demanded answers.

"Beckman, Secure."

"Walker, Secure."

"What is it, Agent Walker? I didn't expect a debriefing until after the mission."

"Yes, General, I understand, but my reason for calling isn't related to the mission. I called because I think Chu-… Mr. Bartowski may have been shot."

"Agent Walker, what happens to Mr. Bartowski is none of your business and frankly, is none of mine either." Beckman asserted with a disturbed face.

"General, please. I need to know."

Beckman scoffed at the agents stubbornness, "… fine. If you must know." She was reluctant to say, "… your former asset, Charles Bartowski was pronounced dead as of, October 15, 01:37.

 **October 14, 2008, 11:27 PM. Location: Some street in Burbank**

"I'm not gonna ask again! Give me your wallet!"

"Okay! Okay! Please don't sho-" _his words are a bit sl-.._

"Too late."

 _*BANG BANG_

The first bullet had barely skimmed Chuck's thigh, the second one came quickly after, piercing just under Chuck's collarbone. His world slowly faded from him. Chuck hit the ground the second his chest was pierced. The shooter quickly turned the victim around, grabbed the wallet, and left just as fast. Sirens were going off in the distant.

 **October 29, 2008, 9:30 AM. Location: LA Cemetery**

"Chuck was the greatest friend anyone could ask for… Chuck was the guy to stand up for you even when he knew he had no chance. He was persistent, honorable, and overall, gracious. He was the guy to ask how you were feeling and listen to help you resolve your problems because he just had a natural gift of pointing out when someone was down." Someone chuckled. Morgan continued his eulogy, but eventually broke down. The thought of his best friend gone had never occurred to the small bearded man. Not ever. _Why would anyone to this to Chuck_

 **October 14, 2008, 11:32 PM**

Ellie's phone rang

"Hello?"

"Dr. Bartowski.."

"Yes? Is there something wrong? I wasn't on call today."

"It's your brother, Chuck."

"Chuck?!"

"Hey, babe, is everything alright?" Devon heard Ellie's cry

"Yes, your brother has been shot and is currently in the OR"

 **11:40 PM. Location: Westside Medical**

"Where's Chuck! Where's my brother?!"

"Ellie, babe.. Chuck is strong, i'm sure he'll pull through"

She coldly glared at Devon

 **October 15, 2008, 01:23 AM**

Ellie was sitting next to Chuck. Not daring to let go of her little brother's hand. "Come on Chuck, please please please. Don't stop fighting. Please"

 **01:37 AM**

Ellie and Devon were desperately observing the EKG machine.

 _*beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeee_

Ellie bursted out in tears. Bawling the second she heard the flatline. Devon wrapped his arms around his weeping girlfriend. Ellie pounded and shouted and kicked and screamed. Doctors came rushing in, but all Ellie could do was stand there, too afraid to let her head process what happened. Ellie couldn't take her eyes off her little brother, not once did she blink. "babe… i'm sor-.."

* _beep beep beep beep_

All eyes shifted towards the machine. Seconds after, Ellie's little brother strikes up, gasping for air, panting, as if he'd died and came back to life. More tears came out, but these tears were different. Chuck could see the desperation in his sister's eyes, slowly fading, as his conscious came back to him. "Hey, El, Devon" giving them the infamous Bartowski smile

"Oh Chuck" she nearly broke down once again, but just seeing her little brother so alive and breathing gave her all the joy and hope one could ask for. They had lost both their parents. If her brother had died, she might as well have been dead as well. "You had us so worried, I get a call from the hospital saying you were in the OR! And for what? For getting shot at?! How did that even happen?" The doctors and nurses left the room, one by one as Chuck's condition began to stabilize.

Silence, once again, filled the room.

"I'm sorry El, I really am... right after our call, I got mugged. The guy had a gun pointing towards me. He wanted my wallet, but as stupid as I am, I tried stalling him, I guess he figured what I was doing and shot me... twice" the horror of reliving that moment terrified Chuck. Sure he's gotten shot at more times than he'd like, but never actually has he _gotten_ shot. Plus, he always had Sarah and Casey by his side, to protect him.

"Chuck.. what are we gonna do?" Ellie asked rhetorically

"I need some time to think El." Getting shot at really put things to perspective, _seriously came close to knocking death's this time,_ he thought. Adding the fact that the love of his life left him to be with the ONE person who ruined his life, Chuck wasn't having it. "Please, I need some time alone"

 **October 15, 2008, 5:00 AM. Location: D.C.**

General Beckman was sitting in her office. Her phone went off. "Beckman, secure"

"H-hey General, it's me, Chuck" the general rolled her eyes.

"Are you secure or not Bartowski?!"

"Oh! Uh, yes. _Ahem,_ Bartowski, secure" he said in a much deeper voice.

"What is it, Bartowski, you aren't even supposed to have this number."

"I understand, General, but considering my circumstances, I felt it was necessary."

"Well out with it"

"You see, General, I've recently gotten shot and pretty sure, I died. And because of that I've been thinking. I've done a lot for this country, and in return, I was hoping you could do me a favor?" There was a long period of silence...

 **April 27, 2009, 5:15 PM. Location: New York**

A young man walked across the hotel lobby. He couldn't be anymore than 30. The young man had short, curly hair, wore an expensive suit, paired with some shiny dress shoes. "Good evening, Mr. Cooper"

"Good evening, Alex" the curly haired man gave a warm smile to the receptionist.

 **April 27, 2009, 5:15 PM. Location: D.C.**

"Bryce, oh my god, you've been shot"

"Yeah" _quite the observation skills, Sarah._ Bryce, heavily panting, trying to hold on. "I'm really sorry about this, Sarah"

"No, no, no. It's okay. You're gonna be fine, it's not that bad."

"Take care.."

"Don't! Don't! I need you Bryce!" Bryce's head slowly fell. His hand dropping to the floor, covered in blood. Sarah could only shed a tear before the computer started counting down.

* _beep.. beep.. beep.. beep..._

Sarah turned back to the burning building. _Why?! Why do I always lose those closest to me._ She got into their getaway car and called General Beckman for a debriefing.


End file.
